Paper 2, Section I\mathbf{I}, E

Classical Dynamics
Part II, 2009

A system of three particles of equal mass mm moves along the xx axis with xix_{i} denoting the xx coordinate of particle ii. There is an equilibrium configuration for which x1=0x_{1}=0, x2=ax_{2}=a and x3=2ax_{3}=2 a.

Particles 1 and 2, and particles 2 and 3, are connected by springs with spring constant μ\mu that provide restoring forces when the respective particle separations deviate from their equilibrium values. In addition, particle 1 is connected to the origin by a spring with spring constant 16μ/316 \mu / 3. The Lagrangian for the system is

L=m2(x˙12+η˙12+η˙22)μ2(163x12+(η1x1)2+(η2η1)2)L=\frac{m}{2}\left(\dot{x}_{1}^{2}+\dot{\eta}_{1}^{2}+\dot{\eta}_{2}^{2}\right)-\frac{\mu}{2}\left(\frac{16}{3} x_{1}^{2}+\left(\eta_{1}-x_{1}\right)^{2}+\left(\eta_{2}-\eta_{1}\right)^{2}\right)

where the generalized coordinates are x1,η1=x2ax_{1}, \eta_{1}=x_{2}-a and η2=x32a\eta_{2}=x_{3}-2 a.

Write down the equations of motion. Show that the generalized coordinates can oscillate with a period P=2π/ωP=2 \pi / \omega, where

ω2=μ3m\omega^{2}=\frac{\mu}{3 m}

and find the form of the corresponding normal mode in this case.